Thursday, May 10, 2018

3 October 2018 – 15 May 2019

Overview
Kirill Karabits celebrates his 10th season as Chief Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, launching the season with Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Ligeti’s Lontano with Lise Lindstrom and Nadine Weissmann
World premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s large-scale orchestral work Testament, co-commissioned by the BSO and Staatskappelle Weimar to mark the centenary of the end of World War One
Cellist Johannes Moser is the 2018/19 Artist-in-Residence performing three times throughout the season, including the world premiere of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Suite for Cello, Strings and Timpani, commissioned especially by Moser
‘Always Remembered’ event on 11 November with David Hill and the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus brings together the community to mark the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day
Welcome returns for Karl-Heinz Steffens, Ion Marin, Augustin Hadelich, Benjamin Grosvenor, Kees Bakels, James Feddeck, Saleem Ashkar, Sunwook Kim and more
BSO debuts for Lucas Debargue, Kim Barbier, Nadine Weissmann, Natalya Romaniw, Andrew Tyson, Harutyun Chkolyan, Arshaluys Tadevosyan, Michelle de Young, Andrei Korobeinikov, Ning Feng, Tim Hugh, Allison Oakes, Clemens Schuldt, Baiba Skride and Simon Shibambu, as well as main season debuts from Ben Gernon and Jamie Phillips
Kirill Karabits and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra release a new recording of Lyatoshinsky’s Symphony No. 3 on Chandos in early 2019 as part of Karabits’ acclaimed series of rare Eastern European music
The BSO marks major anniversaries this year including:
The 100th anniversary of Elgar’s Cello Concerto with a performance of the work with Tim Hugh in Portsmouth, a short drive from where it was composed in Fittleworth, Sussex
75th anniversary of Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with a performance conducted by David Hill
Centenary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein with a performance of Chichester Psalms with Conductor Emeritus Marin Alsop at Chichester Cathedral where it was first performed in 1965 alongside the three Cathedral choirs who sang in the original performance – Chichester, Salisbury and Winchester

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra today announces its 2018/19 season, its tenth with Kirill Karabits as Chief Conductor, with over 150 performances in Poole, Bournemouth, Exeter, Bristol, Portsmouth, Cheltenham and other towns and cities across the South and South West.

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s relationship with Kirill Karabits was described by The Daily Telegraph as “one of the country’s finest orchestral partnerships”. Kirill became the first Ukrainian to hold a titled position with a British orchestra when he joined the BSO in 2008 after a unanimous vote by the musicians. He has since taken the Orchestra to new heights, and in recognition of his work with the Orchestra he won the Royal Philharmonic Society Conductor Award in 2013. Kirill has championed rare repertoire which he has both performed and recorded with the Orchestra to widespread critical acclaim, most recently with a performance of Lyatoshinsky’s Symphony No. 3, of which The Times said “passion shone through in the BSO’s performance”. A recording of the work is being released in early 2019 on Chandos as part of the Orchestra and Karabits’ series of rare Eastern European music.

“This season we are proud to celebrate Chief Conductor Kirill Karabits’ 10th year with the Orchestra. In April 2019 he will become the longest serving Chief Conductor since Sir Dan Godfrey himself. Kirill is a musician of the very highest order and we have seen this across the whole span of symphonic repertoire in the last 10 years. Kirill’s rare gift to bring a performance to life, combined with the outstanding musicianship and commitment of the members of the BSO, means that audiences are enjoying another golden age of performances in the history of this great Orchestra.”
Dougie Scarfe, BSO Chief Executive

The 2018/19 season opens with a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No.2 conducted by Karabits at the Orchestra’s home - the Lighthouse in Poole - with soprano Lise Lindstrom, mezzo-soprano Nadine Weissmann and the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, in addition to Ligeti’s Lontano. Other highlights of Kirill’s 10th anniversary season include a performance of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius (Poole: 15 May) and a performance of Teterian’s Symphony No. 3 featuring duduk and surna players Harutyun Chkolyan and Arshaluys Tadevosyan, which the Orchestra and Karabits are recording for the next instalment of their rare Eastern European music recording series on Chandos.

Kirill Karabits, Chief Conductor, said: “In my 10th year with the BSO, it is a great honour to open the 2018/19 season with Mahler’s second symphony, one of his greatest and most successful symphonies. I look forward to conducting other great symphonies including Shostakovich, Elgar, Beethoven and Dvořák, as well as introducing Armenian composer Avet Terterin featuring traditional and folk duduk and zurna soloists. I am particularly delighted to complete our 10th season together with Elgar’s choral masterpiece The Dream of Gerontius. I am extremely proud of the relationship I have developed with the BSO, our collaboration and mutual respect is one of my greatest achievements. I am also incredibly proud of our relationship with our audiences which we have created together.”

Dougie Scarfe, BSO Chief Executive, said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming cellist Johannes Moser as this season’s Artist-in-Residence. This year our season marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One, a number of works have been programmed including the world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Testament, Nielsen’s Fourth Symphony and a suite of Prokofiev’s intense and colourful War and Peace. Year on year we are continually reaching new audiences, in and outside of the concert hall, and expanding our reach across the South and South West. We will continue to champion inclusion and accessibility in the Arts for everyone, in and beyond the concert hall, through our BSO Participate programme”.

The Orchestra is marking many major anniversaries this season. Firstly, for the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One the BSO have co-commissioned English composer Mark-Anthony Turnage to write Testament - a setting of four Ukrainian poems for soprano and orchestra. The Orchestra will premiere Testament on 7 November in Poole, conducted by Kirill Karabits, alongside Glière’s Les Sirens and Prokofiev’s War and Peace Orchestral Suite. On Sunday 11 November, the Orchestra join together with Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and conductor David Hill for Always Remembered - a performance in collaboration with the Lighthouse, Poole, bringing together readings and performance to mark the centenary of the end of World War One. The Orchestra and the Lighthouse aim to bring together the people of Poole and Dorset through the event, remembering loved ones and marking the centenary as a community.

As a major highlight of the worldwide Bernstein centenary celebrations, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Emeritus Marin Alsop perform the composer’s Chichester Psalms at Chichester Cathedral where the piece was originally performed in 1965. Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra brings together the three Cathedral choirs who sang in the original performance over 50 years ago - Chichester, Salisbury and Winchester - for the performance on 24 November 2018.

Marking the centenary of Edward Elgar’s much-loved Cello Concerto, the Orchestra will perform the piece with cellist Tim Hugh and conductor David Hill (21 March) at Portsmouth’s Guildhall, a short drive away from where Elgar composed the concerto in Fittleworth, Sussex, 100 years ago.

David Hill conducts a special anniversary performance of Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and Jette Parker Young Artist Simon Shibambu to mark the work’s 75th anniversary in March 2019. Other debut performances with the BSO this season include British singer Allison Oakes who makes her UK professional debut performing Strauss’ Four Last Songs (Poole: 24 Oct, Exeter: 25 Oct), and main season debuts for young British conductors Ben Gernon (Poole: 17 Oct, Portsmouth: 18 Oct) and Jamie Phillips (Poole: 10 April, Exeter: 11 April, Portsmouth: 12 April). Violinist Baiba Skride makes her BSO debut performing Dvořák’s Violin Concerto conducted by German conductor Clemens Schuldt, also making his BSO debut (Poole: 30 Jan, Exeter: 31 Jan).

BSO’s new Artist-in-Residence for the 18/19 season, German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser, gives three programmes throughout the season. Moser, hailed by Gramophone magazine as “one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists”, performs Walton’s Cello Concerto for the first time in November in Poole (28 Nov), Portsmouth (29 Nov), Bristol (30 Nov) and Basingstoke (1 Dec) conducted by Karabits alongside works by Stravinsky and Shostakovich. For his recital in Poole (6 Feb) Moser is joined by his regular recital partner, pianist Andrei Korobeinikov, to perform a programme of Prokofiev and Rachmaninov following the duo’s ECHO Klassik Award-winning disc in 2016. Moser returns for his final performances with the BSO in May to perform Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C and the World Premiere of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Suite for Cello, Strings and Timpani, a work Moser commissioned, alongside works by Grieg and Mozart (Poole: 1 May, Sidmouth: 2 May, Bristol: 3 May). Grammy-Award-winning violinist Augustin Hadelich, who was BSO’s Artist-in-Residence in the 15/16 Season, returns to perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with Kirill and the Orchestra in January (Poole: 16 Jan, Basingstoke: 17 Jan, Exeter: 18 Jan). Sunwook Kim, who was BSO’s Artist-in-Residence in the 14/15 season, returns to perform Dvořák’s Piano Concerto with the Orchestra (Poole: 8 May, Portsmouth: 9 May).

Other highlights of the season include a welcome return by BSO regular Keels Bakels (Poole: 20 Feb, Exeter: 21 Feb, Bristol: 22 Feb) and Michael Seal conducting violinist Ning Feng in a programme of Mendelssohn, Brahms and Dvořák (Plymouth: 7 Feb, Portsmouth: 8 Feb, Bath: 9 Feb). The full programme is available at https://www.bsolive.com/concertseason201819

The Orchestra performs in a variety of venues throughout the season, bringing world-class orchestral music to audiences across the South and South West of England to a home region of over 10,000 square miles. In addition to its home, The Lighthouse in Poole, the Orchestra continues to build impactful relationships with organisations and venues across the region. This season, the Orchestra will perform at the Guildhall in Portsmouth, Bournemouth Pavilion, Exeter Great Hall, The Anvil in Basingstoke, Cheltenham Town Hall, Chichester Cathedral, Plymouth Guildhall, The Forum in Bath and Sidmouth Parish Church, in addition to The Victoria Rooms and St George’s Bristol whilst their usual venue of Colston Hall is being refurbished.

The 2018/19 season will see the BSO return to Cornwall for the Cornwall Residency in February 2019, and will see a mixture of school and community workshops, rehearsals and events all over the County. In 2019 the BSO aims to build on their record-breaking residency in 2017 where they reached over 6,000 individuals. BSO Participate will continue to deliver its regular programme of Schools’ Concerts, Rusty & Not So Rusty Musicians, Family Orchestra, Tea Dances and will also push forward with its work with people living with dementia delivering Dementia-Friendly Cake Concerts and work in NHS acute care wards around the region. November 2018 will see their Music for Youth Massed Ensemble perform at the Royal Albert Hall which aims to bring 500-600 young people together from the ages of 8 – 21 years from across Bournemouth, Southampton, the Isle of Wight and Poole to celebrate ensemble playing in the 21st century, as part of the BSO’s 125 anniversary year.

Alongside performances in major venues the BSO continues to perform high-quality chamber music concerts in local communities through its ensemble programme. The BSO is committed to making the orchestra as accessible to all – from taking music to rural locations, to inspiring and working with disabled musicians - through the world’s first disabled-led ensemble embedded in a professional symphony orchestra, BSO Resound. BSO Resound give their first major UK performance alongside the BSO at the 2018 BBC Proms in the second ever BBC Relaxed Prom on Monday 27 August at the Royal Albert Hall.